Kenya became independent on Dec. 12, 1963, under a constitution that placed the prime minister at the head of a cabinet chosen by a bicameral National Assembly. Significant power was granted to assemblies elected in each of the country’s regions, and multiparty contests were allowed. Beginning in the early 1960s, however, a series of amendments abolished the regional assemblies in favour of provincial commissions appointed by the national government, made the National Assembly a unicameral body, proclaimed the Kenya African National Union (KANU) the only legal political party, and replaced the prime minister with an executive president who has the power to dismiss at will the attorney general and senior judges. The effect of these changes was to establish the central government—in particular, the presidency—as the principal locus of political power in the country. Although the constitution guarantees a number of rights, such as the freedoms of speech, assembly, and worship, it also allows the president to detain without trial persons who have been deemed a threat to public security.

Constitutional reforms allowed multiparty politics once again in 1991 and granted greater freedom to political parties before the December 1997 elections. In 2008, in the aftermath of the disputed December 2007 presidential election, legislation was passed that provided for the creation of a coalition government and amended the constitution to alter the structure of the executive branch, allowing for the re-creation of the prime minister post and the creation of two deputy minister posts.

Those seeking election or appointment to public office must be members of a political party; presidential appointments are the only exception. Several candidates from a party may contest a single office, but any candidate who receives more than 70 percent of the vote in a nominating election enters the final election unopposed.

The executive branch consists of the president, the prime minister, two deputy prime ministers, and other cabinet ministers. The president, who is elected by direct popular vote to a term of five years, must receive a minimum of one-fourth of the votes cast in five of the eight provinces and must be a member of the National Assembly. The president is the head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces, government is the president, assisted by the prime minister. The president appoints the vice president, and, with the agreement of the prime minister, selects cabinet ministers from among the members of the National Assembly. Through the cabinet, the president exercises control over the passage of legislation as well as over the huge bureaucracies directing the economy and provincial affairs.

Most members of the National Assembly are elected to five-year terms by universal adult suffrage; however, 12 members are appointed by the president, and there are 2 ex officio members—the speaker and the attorney general, of whom only the speaker has voting privileges.

Local government

Kenya contains eight provinces: Nyanza, Western, Rift Valley, Central, Eastern, North Eastern, Coast, and Nairobi. All provinces, except for Nairobi, are divided into districts. Local government consists of appointed provincial and district commissioners, elected county, municipal, and town councils, and elected township or municipal authorities. The provincial commissioners are responsible for education, transport, and health in their provinces, while the councils are concerned with services and public works funded by local taxes and grants from the central government.

Justice

The High Court, appointed by the president, consists of the chief justice and at least 11 puisne, or associate, justices. The High Court has full civil and criminal jurisdiction and rules on constitutional matters. The Kenya Court of Appeal, consisting of the chief justice and at least two associates, is the highest appeals court in the country. At lower levels are resident magistrates’ and district magistrates’ courts. Kenya’s judicial system acknowledges the validity of Islamic law and indigenous African customs in many personal areas such as marriage, divorce, and matters affecting dependents. To that end, the Muslim community uses judicial venues known as Kadhis’ courts to resolve issues concerning Islamic law.

Political process

The Kenya African National Union (KANU) has dominated Kenyan politics since its founding in 1960. Its principal opposition, the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU), merged with KANU in 1964. Since Kenya’s transformation from single-party KANU rule back into a multiparty state in the early 1990s, many political parties have been created, often reflecting ethnic alliances. The major parties are the Democratic Party, the National Development Party, the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy–Kenya. In 1997 a woman, representing the SDP, ran for president—a first for Kenya—and received almost 8 percent of the vote. However, at the legislative level, women constituted less than 10 percent of the National Assembly in the early 21st century.

Security

Kenya’s armed forces consist of air force, navy, and army contingents. Military service is voluntary. Kenyan troops have participated in several United Nations-sponsored peacekeeping missions.

Health and welfare

Together with improved housing, education, sanitation, and nutrition, health care programs have drastically reduced mortality rates from preindependence levels, especially for infants. High rates of malaria, gastroenteritis, diarrhea and dysentery, trachoma, amebiasis, and schistosomiasis continue, however, and illustrate how difficult it is to eradicate mosquitoes and provide clean water, especially in the countryside. By the beginning of the 21st century, AIDS had become the major disease in Kenya and threatened to reverse the declining death rate. Kenya, like other countries in Africa suffering under the AIDS pandemic, has utilized a number of strategies to combat the disease, including drug therapy. Some drug companies lowered their prices in Kenya by more than half in the early 21st century, but this was not enough to make drugs available to all who needed them. Inadequate supply of drugs is also a problem.

Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi is the country’s chief referral and teaching institution, and there are also provincial and district hospitals. In rural areas, health centres and dispensaries offer diagnostic services, obstetric care, and outpatient treatment, although they often lack adequate facilities, trained personnel, and medications.

Housing

In rural areas, the average home consists of a two-room dwelling made with wood siding and a roof of sheet iron; for the very poor, simple grass-thatched huts are typical. In urban areas, the representative middle-class home has two bedrooms, indoor plumbing, a kitchen, and a living area.

Providing housing for the urban poor has been increasingly difficult since independence. Most of the urban population lives in informal housing areas not recognized by the government, which often razes slums without warning. In an effort to provide better-quality affordable housing, new building materials are being developed. One such product is brick made from a combination of water, soil, and a small amount of cement.

Education

The national educational system consists of three levels: eight years of compulsory primary education (beginning at age six), four years at the secondary level, and four years of higher education. The government provides free primary and secondary education. Entrance into secondary school is contingent upon obtaining the Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education by passing a national exam.

Education for the indigenous population was not a priority of the British colonial government. After independence, however, primary and secondary school enrollment expanded markedly. Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s first president, promised free primary education to all citizens in 1963, a promise only partially fulfilled when fees for the first four years of primary school were abolished in 1974. One consequence of this educational expansion was that underemployment and unemployment increased as better-educated citizens entered the job market. The government responded by expanding the civil service beginning in the late 1970s, but by the early 1990s it could no longer absorb this population. The problem was compounded as the number of secondary schools grew. Because the government could not provide enough government-funded schools, community-built harambee secondary schools were developed. These schools were supposed to receive government assistance to provide for teachers and learning materials, but such support did not always materialize. The government simultaneously pursued a policy of “education for self-reliance,” whereby education was oriented toward preparing students for employment in agriculture as well as in business. Universal free education was introduced for all years of primary schooling in 2002. In the following years, primary schools were not able to accommodate the increased demand for services and faced such problems as overcrowding and a lack of resources.

Education is still highly valued in Kenya, with many of the students pursuing strategies such as “shadow education” (after-school and weekend tutoring) and remaining in a grade more than one year in order to pass the Certificate of Primary Education exam. Because of the country’s continuing economic problems, however, many of these students have not been able to attend school beyond the primary level; free secondary schooling was introduced in 2008 to help address this issue. Kenya’s literacy rate, at more than four-fifths of the population, is high for sub-Saharan Africa.

Public universities include the University of Nairobi (1956) and Kenyatta University (1972) in Nairobi, Moi University (1984) in Eldoret, and Egerton University (1939) in Njoro, as well as the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (1981) in Nairobi. Specialized colleges include Kenya Conservatoire of Music (1944), Kenya Medical Training College (1924), and Kenya Polytechnic (1961) in Nairobi and Rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology (1972) in Nakuru.